Maria (Boux) Morganti Avatar

The Diary of a digital Journey

Tag: linkedin

  • Ai, LinkedIn and digital visibility for the Pharma Industry

    Ai, LinkedIn and digital visibility for the Pharma Industry

    LinkedIn Strategy for Improving Visibility in the Pharma Space

    In today’s rapidly evolving pharmaceutical landscape, effective communication with consumers has never been more critical. As the industry shifts towards more transparent and direct engagement, it is essential for pharmaceutical companies to master the art of communicating with their audience.

    This is where a diverse range of stakeholders—including

    • ingredient companies,
    • regulatory bodies,
    • healthcare professionals,
    • Biotechnology innovators / knowledge center
    • health marketing agencie

    can play pivotal roles. By providing support and guidance on best practices for consumer communication, these stakeholders can empower pharmaceutical firms to navigate the complexities of direct engagement.

    Social media platforms have revolutionized how information is shared and consumed, enabling pharmaceutical companies to connect with their audience in real-time. This direct communication not only enhances brand visibility but also fosters trust and loyalty among consumers.

    By fostering this collaboration, ingredient and other partners companies can help pharmaceutical firms harness the power of social media, ensuring they not only reach their target audience but also engage them meaningfully. Together, we can enhance the overall healthcare dialogue, making it more accessible and consumer-friendly.

    According to a study published in June this year, pharmaceutical firms can enhance their sales and marketing strategies to drive revenue growth by leveraging social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. These platforms enable targeted marketing efforts, allowing companies to identify and engage with potential consumer categories, from healthcare professionals to end users.

    Not just “fun” platforms, social media channels have become a needed tool also for the Pharmaceutical industry. Always according to the study: “Revenue growth and improved sales productivity are possible outcomes of this (social media marketing)”.

    Key Benefits:

    1. Increased Audience Reach: With billions of active users, social media offer pharmaceutical companies the opportunity to connect with a diverse audience, enhancing customer interaction and engagement.
    2. Competitive Analysis: Facebook’ and other plattforms’s Insights tool provides valuable analytics, enabling companies to track engagement metrics, ad performance, and audience demographics. This data helps refine marketing strategies and better understand audience preferences.
    3. Automation and AI Integration: The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in pharmaceutical marketing allows companies to analyze vast amounts of data, predict customer behavior, and create personalized experiences. AI tools are essential for developing precise and effective marketing campaigns.


    Overall, utilizing these digital technologies can lead to improved sales productivity and significant revenue growth for pharmaceutical companies.

    This is an effort that pharmaceutical companies can not make on their own. The whole chain involved in devolopping procees should work combined to support what is finally the expectations of the consumers: more clear and transparent communication.

    Today I’d like to start by focusing on the most B2B platform: LinkedIn.

    Despite very professional oriented, it has become highly used in many other aspects and more and more people share their personal stories and uses as frequently as facebook or other more “personal” channels. This is why ignoring it or worse, treating it like a pure “presence” plattform might be a big mistake.

    Especially company image and reputation within a complex and highly competitive like the pharmaceutical industry should be prioritized. The engagement and interactions will lead to visibility that will make the company the “authority” in the space.

    This is why it’s important to have a well-rounded strategy that leverages LinkedIn’s networking, content, and engagement tools. Here’s a step-by-step approach that can help build your presence and establish your authority within the pharma space.

    1. Optimize Company LinkedIn Profile

    • Company Headline: Clearly communicate the mission and expertise in the pharma industry. Include relevant keywords like “Pharmaceutical Expert,” “Biotech Industry Leader,” or “Clinical Research Specialist.”
    • Logo and Banner: Use a high-quality, professional photo of the company and the team. For the banner image, use something industry-related, like a lab or an abstract medical theme. The “diversity” aspect should be highlighted.
    • About Section: Tell company story and mission. Highlight employees experience and activities, areas of expertise (e.g., drug development, regulatory affairs, market access), and main events. This is an opportunity to enhance the people and their successes.
    • Showcase Section: Showcase key achievements, publications, or projects relevant to the pharmaceutical industry


    2. Define Company Spokesperson

    • Role of the Spokesperson: Select a knowledgeable executive or senior professional (e.g., CEO, Chief Medical Officer, Head of R&D) to serve as the company spokesperson on LinkedIn.
    • Profile Setup: Ensure the spokesperson has a well-optimized LinkedIn profile that complements the company’s brand and mission. Include a professional photo, detailed experience, and a compelling headline.
    • Create a Communication Plan: This person should actively engage with followers, share insights, and represent the company’s voice in discussions. Decide a set of topics each month and include sporadically new contents based on latest news from the industry. Prepare an Editorial Plan to follow through, which links company corporate communication to Speakspeople communication.


    3. Content Strategy: Thought Leadership and Engagement

    • Original Articles: Have the spokesperson write and share articles on relevant topics such as drug development, regulatory updates, patient advocacy, and industry trends. This establishes authority and showcases expertise.
    • Regular Posts: Share company updates, product launches, research findings, and industry news at least 3-4 times a week. Encourage the spokesperson to share their insights on these posts to add a personal touch.
    • Engaging Multimedia: Utilize videos, infographics, and webinars featuring the spokesperson discussing important topics or insights in the pharma space. This helps humanize the brand and engage audiences visually.

    4. Networking and Engagement

    • Connect with Industry Leaders: The spokesperson should actively connect with key opinion leaders, healthcare professionals, and relevant organizations in the pharmaceutical industry. Personalized connection requests will enhance networking opportunities.
    • Join Relevant Groups: Participate in industry-specific groups to share insights, answer questions, and engage in discussions. This builds credibility and expands the company’s reach within the community.
    • Comment and Engage: The spokesperson should regularly comment on posts from industry peers and thought leaders to increase visibility and foster relationships.


    5. Utilize LinkedIn Analytics

    • Monitor Engagement: Regularly analyze LinkedIn metrics to assess the performance of posts and articles. Identify what content resonates most with the audience and refine strategies accordingly.
    • Audience Insights: Use demographic data to better understand who is engaging with the company’s content and tailor messaging to suit the interests of these audiences.


    6. Leverage Paid Advertising

    • Sponsored Content: Consider using LinkedIn Sponsored Content to promote high-value posts, such as whitepapers or webinars, to a targeted audience within the pharmaceutical sector. But do this only when there is a clear and well defined target group and limit the time of the ad. It can goes up very quicly.
    • Precise Targeting: Utilize LinkedIn’s targeting options to reach healthcare professionals, researchers, and decision-makers in the pharmaceutical industry.


    7. Engage with Industry Events

    • Post Event Summaries: After attending industry conferences or webinars, the spokesperson can share key takeaways and insights, positioning the company as an active participant in the industry.
    • Host Webinars: Organize webinars on relevant topics featuring the spokesperson as a key presenter. Promote these events on LinkedIn to attract attendees and foster engagement.


    8. Encourage Employee Advocacy

    • Engage Employees: Encourage employees to share company content and their insights on LinkedIn, amplifying the reach of posts and building a community around the brand.
    • Recognition and Sharing: Recognize employees who actively participate in sharing content or engaging with the audience, fostering a culture of advocacy.


    By combining a well-optimized profile with regular, insightful content, strategic networking, and a focus on industry trends, the company profile will see a steadily increase in visibility in the pharma space on LinkedIn. Tailoring the strategy to highlight thought leadership and active engagement will help establish you as an authoritative voice in the industry.

  • Persona Profiling in LinkedIn

    Persona Profiling in LinkedIn

    In today’s digital age, establishing a strong online presence is imperative for professionals and companies. Among the myriad of social platforms available, LinkedIn stands out as the most important platform for B2B purpose, with many possibilities of networking, professional development, and business contacts generation. With over 1 billion users worldwide, LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network offers a vast pool of opportunities for connecting with industry peers, potential clients, and valuable resources.

    However, if a company wants to harness the power at its best from this platform, simply having a “presence” isn’t enough and, sorry to disappoint, having the official company page and posting random company-only updates is far from being enough.

    In this blog post, I’ll explore the significance of persona profiling on LinkedIn and how it can drive business success.

    LinkedIn Algorithm


    LinkedIn algorithm is specifically designed to connect individuals and not to bombard its users with content. Meaning that if other platforms wants you to see and be entratianed by as many post / reels / images as possible, LinkedIn prefers you to focus on knowledge and education, favouring the showing of possible new connections who might enhance your network in that sense. In this context the possibilities that your post might be organically shown to possible target customers is much lower than in other platforms (or through Google search for example).
    Even more so from 2023, when the company announced significant algorithm changes focusing to these two goals:

    • Surfacing more content that shares knowledge or advice
    • Strengthening connections among people who know each other


    Company vs Personal

    People simply don’t trust companies, rather people. This is true also online. Several studies confirm that sharing information through a personal LinkedIn profile drives 2.75x more impressions and 5x more engagement when compared to a company profile, despite having a follower base much lower. Company profiles are seen as windows of the companies and therefore mistrusted source of information or at best very promotional. Furthermore the company page is only one and can not always tailor the content for different stakeholders / target groups, leading to overload of not meaningful information. Therefore part of the marketing and communication plan of a B2B organisation should be to employ a robust strategy by enabling and empowering the employees to complement the company page’s organic and paid efforts.



    Digital Buyer Persona:

    Before diving into content creation and engagement strategies, it’s essential to develop a clear understanding of the target audience’s personas. A persona profile outlines the characteristics, preferences, and pain points of the ideal LinkedIn connections. This includes factors such as industry, job title, interests, challenges, and goals. This analysis and characterization goes beyond the simple definition of “attributes” such as “Job Title, function, Country, ..” but also mean understanding the behavior of the target users within the platforms, the preferences, how he/she consumes knowledge, their values and culture background and so on. By creating detailed persona profiles, companies can tailor content and messaging to address the exact specific needs and interests of the target audience segments.

    One important remark: in contrast with a “persona” (who is a fictional representation of the ideal customer and include also general information about the person), a buyer persona is a persona that specifically focuses on the decision-makers involved in the buying process. This includes only information related to the “final” step of the sales journey, so information as their role in the company, their decision-making process, and their objections have the highest priorities but they might not be the only ones to look at.

    LinkedIn Attributes:

    When crafting your LinkedIn strategy, it’s essential to consider the various attributes that define your target audience. For example, while some may be primarily interested in connecting with fellow executives or decision-makers, others may be seeking insights from industry experts or thought leaders. By understanding the nuances of LinkedIn’s user base, you can customize your outreach and engagement tactics to maximize your impact.

    Especially in LinkedIn the topic of attributes is quite tricky. There are many factors to take in consideration when selecting attributes of the target groups: for example, if we consider the Job Title – it could be written in many languages, it could be simplified or very detailed, it could be differently interpreted (Manager or Head) based on the company, might no be showing at all (many C-Level/Board) or could be by policy forbidden to explicitly mention the title but one can show the department.


    Since 2023 LinkedIn’s included “interest targeting features” with the aim to continue improving B2B ads targeting. The platform offers now more than 400 interest categories for campaign targeting, including services, products and general interests. Meaning for Social Media Managers of B2B companies being much more specific in the content and very precise and straightforward in the communication. Which is anyhow a best practice considering that according to research conducted by Microsoft, we have a shorter attention span than a goldfish. That is less than 9 seconds.

    Relevant Content for Target Groups or Pain Points

    Once the target audience personas have been identified, the next step is to create content that resonates not only with their interests and addresses but also their pain points. Whether it’s informative articles, thought leadership pieces, or engaging multimedia content, the key is to deliver value that solves the audience’s challenges or provides insights relevant to their industry or role.

    The content can serve different purposes:
    –

    • Educate the existing and prospect customers on a specific topic that might be very critical in the business area and requires high expertise and knowledge. With the overload of information and data, it is impossible to keep up with all what is going on in the world, even in your own business area. That’s why companies should play that role in the communication and being the “mentors” for their customers on the information they need to know. Studies, researches, market trends, insights, new technology…Even if not directly related to their specific products, companies are expected to be their customers “consultant”. This is the famous “added value”, especially in B2B. With commoditization of products, unless the lowest prices is your strategy, the only competitor advantage is your knowledge and credibility. I am still amazed that companies don’t realize how important it is to communicate exactly for this reason.
    • Entertain the audience with something light but still inherent the area, in order to keep in touch but without a specific goal, like educate or inform. It seems the opposite on what I wrote above but what I mean is some light entertaining content to keep the attention to the company and / or to stand out from the crowd is surely recommended. Nowadays we are all used to have just a little fun while we watch our social media, even if we don’t necessarily look for it and when that doesn’t happen, we tend to instinctively switch channel/platforms. That doesn’t mean completely turn all the content into funny cats posts or TikTok dances…It is an addition and it complements the most serious communication, that should be the vast majority.
    • Inform about company news, mainly to the existing customers in that follow the channel. This is what the LinkedIn Channels are most used for in B2B in my experience. Although there is nothing wrong with informing the audience about a trade-show participation or about a new product launch, we should not expect huge reactions also because even that the algorithm will not promote such type of content so much. For the reasons I explained above, people tend to believe more in people. That’s why for critical announcements I would always recommend spokespeople to be in the front seat and share it openly e directly from their own accounts.
    • Care to sharing more insights from the company in order to create trust. Several studies prove that In today’s dynamic business landscape, where consumers are more and more interested on how companies behave (especially in topics related to social responsibility), companies are expected to share more information. Among consumers, increasing visibility and the disclosure of information has always positive effects in the strengthening of trust.


    By consistently sharing valuable content, you can position yourself as a trusted authority in your field and attract the attention of potential clients or collaborators.

    Behavioral Analysis:

    Ultimately understanding the behavior of your target audience on LinkedIn is key to optimizing your engagement strategies. With more and more analysis tool you can now track how the target groups behave within the platform, for example what kind of pages they look at (company, ads, groups,….) or what time of the day they connect and for how long or even if they prefer to look at pdf or images. By monitoring these factors such as online activity patterns, content preferences, and engagement trends, you can identify opportune moments to connect and interact with your audience.

    Undoubtedly these are all very important things to keep in consideration. But in my opinion if I have limited time and resources (often the case in marketing teams for middle-size companies) and I have to decide between investigate the behavioral aspects of my target audience or train and encourage more internal people becoming the social experts and spokespeople for my company, I will all the time choose the second. People, even in digital, are always the most important factor and I will always priorize that. While behavioral analysis provides valuable insights, it’s the human element that truly drives meaningful connections and engagement. Investing in training and empowering your team to become knowledgeable and influential voices within the industry fosters authentic relationships and enhances the company’s reputation on LinkedIn and beyond. Ultimately, people remain the cornerstone of successful engagement strategies, both in the digital realm and in the broader scope of business operations.

    In conclusion, LinkedIn offers a big array of opportunities for professionals and businesses to connect, engage, and grow their networks. As a B2B company I would absolutely recommend to be in the platform and nurture the channel with constant content…But knowing that is not enough. Only through engagement of the people companies can unlock the full potential of this platform and achieve their business objectives.